Life...The Reader's Digest Version: Great Advice, Simply Put

by Peggy Northrop

Life... is what you make it

Getting the most out of life can be so much easier if you know the coordinates. Whether you want to take the scenic route, make a quick detour, or find the simplest shortcut, there can be no substitute for a good roadmap. Part instruction manual, part GPS, part beloved confidante, Life...The Reader's Digest Version brims with smart ideas to help you navigate those tricky roads you travel each day. Covering key topics, this handy little guide includes advice that spans from surprising tips for dealing with a crisis to surefire suggestions for remembering names. Inside, you'll discover how ...and there's more. Each of the short-but-sweet topics delivers a shot of instant advice, distilled as only Reader's Digest can-a little life lesson that really works.

Genres: Self Help

176 pages, Hardcover

First published July 21, 2011

Reviews

[☾Sabrina♡༄ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book literally only took 37 minutes of my life. I can’t believe it!

For context, I’ve not had much luck with reading self-help/advice books. I’ve always found them to be about 200 pages too long when they’re explaining a concept which I’ve understood in the first paragraph. The rest of the books are usually just arguments and examples to desparately convince you to believe them. Yet I have to grudgingly consume everything until the bitter end because I worry I might be missing out on a hidden gem or two if I simply tossed the book aside. Afterall, there’s a reason they had to make the book hundreds of pages, right?

Wrong.

This book is divided into 2 main sections – to be better and to do better. With 32+34 subsections, they’re sharing advice in at least 66 aspects of life. The best part is how precise and concise everything is – the subsections are explained in bullet points, with the accompanying explanations varying from 1 sentence to perhaps 3 paragraphs at most.

Sure, they’re not ground-breaking advice that you may never have heard of – in fact, so many concepts from notable self-help books are mentioned and summed up in context. And even if some of them seem to be common sense, sometimes it’s nice to be reminded anyway. Some of them are just practical tasks that you know you should do but reading it just spurs you into action - like reclaim your space from messes and enjoying the space cleaned out in your head and on your desk.

Some of my summary notes:

How to right a wrong: empathize to validate their feelings, no qualified apologies (If I hurt you, I’m sorry. If I did anything wrong, I’m sorry), make amends by repairing the damage, assure the aggrieved person it won’t happen again and make sure it doesn’t.

Learn something new: Carpe momentum – even 5-10 minutes at a time adds up.

Be more satisfied at work: to get the credit you deserve, share it with others. Flip side: don’t share blame, avoid finding a fall guy and don’t single out another person. Is whatever that upset you important?

Write a letter: write a thank you note = gift, delight, appreciation for thoughtfulness, soon. Condolence note = God’s will/at least not suffering anymore is only for the aggrieved to say, when they’re ready.

Forgive: come clean - confront them with your hurt, not their shortcomings; if no mea culpa – remove person, reevaluate later if apology comes.

Remember names: focus, ask and repeat, create mental connection and speak it aloud, use the name.

Get more done: set timer and challenge yourself, don’t avoid delegating because it’s easier to do it myself (martyrlike and exhausting!), break down task in bite-size jobs – faster progress and feel more accomplishment.

Be comfortable alone: spend time being neither friend, employee, or daughter. Leave behind identity (eg the dependable one, the funny one). Being alone is not wasted time, your time is yours.

Do math in your head: dividing by 5  = x2, remove zero. 11 rule = separate digits, put sum in between. If >9, move to left. KM -> miles = first digit x 6.

Cope with a crisis: feel free to freak out but not forever (get present: feel your feet on the ground, your back against the chair), accepting something =/= not wanting to change it but until then, you can’t start to fix it. Reframe – crisis isn’t something that happened to you (victim), it’s something that happened for you. Crisis = dangerous opportunity, keyword opportunity.

Find yourself: take a good, hard look at yourself – you might not like what you see but take ownership and commit to scary changes. Keep diary. Take inventory. Go back to your passions – reading, writing, painting, craft. Who you surround yourself with is who you become. Serve others.

Have difficult conversations: with someone with bad breath – “I hope you won’t be offended, but sometimes your breath can be a little strong.”

Say no: “No, but thank you for asking.” “I’d love to, but I simply can’t make that big a commitment. Is there some other way I could help out?” “I’m not able to take that on right now”. 10-10-10 rule: for every decision, ask yourself how you’re likely to feel after 10 minutes, 10 months, and 10 years.

Entertain a child: “Can you help me?”

Some thoughts:

1. I don’t agree with sharing your goals with others (“makes it harder to back out”) – you risk complacency from the instant gratification of people’s positive reaction, or naysayers may demotivate you/project their fears onto you before you’ve even begun.
2. There are a lot of advice sections that I’m not interested in at all (like get your 15 minutes of fame, score great seats, talk your way out of a ticket, mix a perfect martini.. just to name a few) but the value from everything else in the book vs the investment it takes (again, just 37 minutes!) makes up for it.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a keeper!

[AZAi (Bibliophilia) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Each topic highlights on our daily life. Offers guides and tips that are really helpful & worth to put in practice. Surely a repeat reference material.

[Mary Gramlich · Rating 4 out of 5]

LIFE…The Reader’s Digest Version by Peggy Northrop
08/11 - Reader's Digest Association, Incorporated - Hardcover, 176 pages

Life can be tricky you might need this manual to maneuver it.

I requested this Amazon Vine book because I am not about helping myself so that I can grow and expand myself personally. You cannot fix yourself in a day or with a few well scripted words but you can take some quick advice and turn it into something useful for yourself. If you keep moving forward the past will haunt you less that is for sure.

There were numerous sections that did not have any relationship to my life at all because I do not think you should talk your way out of a ticket, you were violating the law own up to it. Others did bring home my ideas and gave me a few new ones. I believe in counting your blessings and the everyday “Little Victories” you should celebrate and I probably need to re-read the section on being satisfied at work.

But the one chapter on forgiveness was right on target for everyone. You have to forgive yourself before you can forgive others and yes all this being bottled up inside you is not doing you any good. Let it go and let life take you where it may.

[Siti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, I admit. It took me years, literally, to finish reading this book. It is a concise, practical and full of advice kind of book. And my best friend gave it to me for my birthday in 2012 because I was at a down time and a crossroad of my life, work-wise.

So, why did it take so long for me to get it read, over and done with? Because the tips are so simply doable, make such sense, I just put down the book and get to work - living and improving my life!

And today, it is just a matter of formality to turn the remaining pages and mark it as read. Worry not, I will most probably revisit the pages for reminders, quick tips or even ideas to put in my next creative writing

[Haryati Abd. Halim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Buku 23/2017.

1. Ringkasan anekdot untuk jadi lebih baik dan buat lebih baik.
2. Ini versi Reader's Digest. Ada banyak saranan yang boleh dilakukan untuk jadi lebih baik walaupun ada antaranya saya bersetuju untuk tidak bersetuju.
3. Saya cuba senaraikan perkara baik yang boleh kita ikuti.